The tension between the executive branch and the courts has recently ramped up. President Donald Trump is pushing for US District Judge James Boasberg to be impeached. This impeachment demand started because Judge Boasberg made a decision that stopped the government from quickly kicking out some people they claimed were part of a Venezuelan gang.
This went against what President Trump’s team has been trying to do using an ancient law from 1798 called the Alien Enemies Act. The President took to social media to share his annoyance, calling Judge Boasberg a “radical left lunatic” and saying that judges who get in the way of the government doing what the people voted for should be removed from their jobs.
In a somewhat unusual step, Chief Justice John Roberts took the time to respond to Donald Trump’s call for impeachment. He said that he doesn’t think impeachment should be used just because someone disagrees with a judge’s decision.
He put it out there like this, “For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.”
Roberts reminded everyone that there’s a proper channel to deal with this kind of situation: the appellate process. It’s all about ensuring the legal system stays independent and follows the rules laid out for everyone.
Chief Justice Roberts has previously defended the judiciary’s independence. In 2018, he called out President Trump for dissing a judge who Obama appointed. He said we don’t have judges who belong to one President or another—no “Obama judges,” “Trump judges,” or judges picked by any president.
We have “an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them.” This shows that Roberts cares about keeping the balance of power in check and ensuring politics don’t sway courts.
Some legal experts are worried about Donald Trump’s idea of impeaching Judge Boasberg. They say it’s not good to use impeachment to challenge a judge’s decisions because it could undermine the critical rule of judicial independence.
Usually, impeachment is only for when a judge does something terrible, not just because someone doesn’t like their decision. Chief Justice Roberts recently said that there’s a proper way to deal with these kinds of issues through the appellate review process. This helps keep the people who make laws and the people who decide on laws in check with each other without letting one group control the other too much.
The ongoing spat between President Trump and Chief Justice Roberts highlights the rising friction between the President and the judges. When Trump keeps complaining about judges who disagree with his decisions, some people worry that the courts’ power might weaken. If the President’s team keeps questioning the courts, it could cause a big problem with how our government works, making people doubt that laws are fair and everyone’s playing by the rules.
However, Chief Justice Roberts is standing firm, which is essential because it helps keep the different parts of our government from stepping too much on each other’s toes. It’s all about keeping that balance of power on which the US was built.
